Prairie Mountain

Prairie Mountain is my favourite hike along highway 66. It is approximately 3.8 kilometres one way with a gain of altitude of 726 metres. Depending on the conditions it takes between 1.5 and 2.5 hours but this can vary greatly depending on whether your are used to steep inclines. For the most part the unmarked path is easy to follow. From the highway the incline is steep before it eases for a short period and finishes with switchbacks to the top of the mountain. The final section leads you to a summit with excellent views of the surrounding mountain region.

Waypoint 16 is where the trail starts at the Northeast side of the highway at the east side of the bridge. The parking lot is about 200 metres to the west of this point. There a several paths that climb the ridge above the highway to waypoint 17 but they all seem to end up at the same place where the trail continues to the top . Waypoint 19 is at the tree line and the access point to the summit. I do not think you could get to the top without going to this point.

The GPS track for this hike can be downloaded via the file attached to this post. Go to the "About" page for directions prior to download or use of this data. Please submit your feedback and let me know your thoughts on the hike. If you have the the GPS data for other hikes in Alberta please send it along with a couple pictures to chris[at]hikealberta[dot]com.